The Vortex
by Kenderlyn
Summary: This is a strange tale, told partially in POV, and is well, strange.


Title:The Vortex  
Author:Kenderlyn  
Warnings:shounen ai. Part pov, a little ooc maybe. AU  
  
  
You do not know me. To all intents and purposes, I don't exist. There is no record of my birth. No girl ever whispered my name, or told me to kill her. I never attended a school. Yet, the one thing I dedicated my life to achieving surrounds you. Peace. No-one remembers me or my partner by name, but we were instrumental - and visible - during the Eve wars and the incident with Marimeia Khushrenada. We appeared in newscasts, and photos, yet if you saw those records, you still would never know our names.  
  
My name is Heero Yuy. No, not the assassinated colony leader, the Gundam pilot. I was the one that self-detonated. My partner Duo Maxwell was the guy with the braid that got captured by OZ. Still don't remember? That's alright. Duo and I knew that would be the price of entering the Vortex. That not even our fellow pilots - Trowa Barton, Quatre Raberba Winner, and Chang Wufei - would remember who we were. The things we did will remain, but we no longer exist. Not even Relena Darlian remembers us, and she was instrumental in bringing us together.  
  
Such a price to pay for the power of Eternity, to be forgotten. I sometimes wonder if Duo regrets our choice. I don't. Of us all, I had the least to lose. My only regret was that I had dragged Duo down with me.  
  
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"Heero, what is it?" Duo glanced at his best friend worried. Heero had been preoccupied since he got a mysterious letter from the now deceased Dr J. Now Heero was packing. "Did Relena fall down the stairs?"  
"No baka. I have a mission."  
"Cool! Can I come too? I'll be good." Heero hid a smile.  
"No, this is something Dr J left for me to do, alone."  
"Then I'm going to see that you don't do something stupid." Heero sighed, when Duo was in that sort of mood it was better to give in.  
"Fine. But don't get in my way."  
"You know me better than that Heero."  
  
***  
  
"This is what you came here for?" Heero nodded.  
"Aa. This is Eternity." The two boys stared at the machine silently.  
"What does it do?"  
"Dr J said that it will give the power of Eternity to whoever steps through that gate. Apparently that person can manipulate time. But there is a price to pay."  
""Like you can change history? What sort of price? For a power like that it would be pretty steep." Heero nodded.  
"Aa. For all the power, they cease to exist. Their parents never gave birth to them, their friends forget their names... but the things they have done remain."  
"So how is this your mission? Do you have to destroy it?"  
"No. I have to use it. Then destroy it."  
"Then... then I won't remember you?" Duo looked stricken. "Why is J telling you to do this?"  
"Because he wants a guardian in place. Someone to subtly encourage Relena's ideals of total pacifism." Heero wouldn't look at Duo. "He believes that I am the best choice, because of my training."  
"What about the rest of us? What about me, Trowa, Quatre, Wufei, Relena? I couldn't just let you go through... you're my best friend." Heero froze.  
"The only way that anyone will remember I even existed is if they..." they both turned to the machine that had started the conversation.  
"Then it's settled. I'm going with you."  
"No Duo. You have things to do in the real world." He was lying. They both knew it. "What about Hilde?"  
"What about her? She has a boyfriend." Heero stopped trying. He wanted Duo to go with him, but he couldn't let him. Duo had so much to live for. Without a word, he turned to the Eternity machine. Slowly he climbed the steps to the gate. He began to step through. 'Forgive me Duo. At least once I go through, you'll forget.' He passed through the gate into the Vortex.  
  
***  
  
Duo could feel that he was forgetting. He didn't want to forget. He moved forward. 'This machine, what does it do?' He moved to the gateway. He could feel deep inside that his future lay through that gate. Slowly, he pushed through. He could feel a tingle in his mind, as the memories he had begun to lose returned.  
"Heero?" the short-haired pilot turned in shock. Even though he had forgotten, Duo had still entered the Vortex. Why? He hadn't realised that he had spoken aloud until Duo answered. "I told you. You aren't leaving without me."  
  
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Duo and I rarely leave the Vortex now. We got to know each other better. He's told me things about his past that no-one else knows. I told him the same. It is now After Colony 500. Relena and our friends are legends now. the Queen of the world, and her three saviours. They get most of the story wrong, but that's ok. Duo and I remember it still. And we will be around for a very long time. We haven't changed really. Duo still has that ridiculous braid, we still look fifteen. But then, how can you age when you've never been born? There has been very little conflict since AC 197, and no Gundams since we destroyed them after the Marimeia incident. Relena's peace is a reality. It is surprisingly easy to distract mortal minds from thoughts of war. And Duo and I have learnt every method. I asked him a few days - Hours? Months? Time passes oddly here, - ago, if he regretted following me into the Vortex. He told me that he didn't regret it. He knew, even though I had already faded from his mind, that if he didn't follow, he would lose a part of his soul. Deep down, despite the guilt I still sometimes feel, I'm glad he followed me. He's my best friend, my partner, my lover, my soul mate, the only person who ever fully understood me at all, and I will devote Eternity to making him happy. One day I might even tell him so. And if I know Duo, he will just look at me and smile, and say 'I knew all along'. He's like that sometimes. What can I say? I love him.  
  
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Uh, this is going to be along the lines of what I did for Palaemon. The story is thrown open to whoever wants to write about this topic. Just add 'the Vortex' into the title, and mention that it ties into this story.  
  
Kenderlyn  



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